Obama Lies to Israelis on Iran Nuke Deal
JERUSALEM – In an address broadcast live to Israel Sunday,
President Obama falsely claimed the West’s nuclear deal with Tehran takes
Iran’s uranium enrichment down to zero from its current 20 percent.
Obama made the false claim twice even though
the text of the deal caps Iran’s uranium enrichment at 5 percent, a figure that
could constantly leave the country two months away from the technical ability
to build a nuke.
Obama was hosted for a forty-minute question-and-answer
session at the annual Saban Forum at the Brookings Institute in Washington,
D.C. The session was broadcast live on Israel’s Channel 2, the country’s
largest television station.
Regarding the nuclear deal, Obama stated: “We have not only
made sure that in Fordor and Natanz that they have to stop adding additional
centrifuges, we’ve also said that they’ve got to roll back their 20 percent
advanced enrichment. So we’re … ”
Host Chaim Saban interrupted and asked, “To how much?”
Saban was asking about the percentage Iran would be required
to roll back its enrichment.
“Down to zero,” Obama stated. “So you remember when Prime
Minister Netanyahu made his presentation before the United Nations last year?”
“The cartoon with the red line?” asked Saban.
Continued Obama: “The picture of a bomb – he was referring
to 20 percent enrichment, which the concern was if you get too much of that,
you now have sufficient capacity to go ahead and create a nuclear weapon. We’re
taking that down to zero.”
In actuality, the six-month renewable interim deal requires
Iran to cap its uranium enrichment at 5 percent. Iranian diplomats have
repeatedly stated they will not give up the right to enrich uranium in any
final deal.
Later on in his speech, Obama contradicted himself and
conceded Iran would likely retain an enrichment capability in a final deal.
He said: “We can envision an end state that gives us an
assurance that even if they have some modest enrichment capability, it is so
constrained and the inspections are so intrusive that they, as a practical
matter, do not have breakout capacity.
“Theoretically they might still have some [breakout
capacity]. But frankly, theoretically, they will always have some because, as I
said, the technology here is available to any good physics student.”
In an e-mail to WND, Olli Heinonen, the former International
Atomic Energy Agency inspector, explained how the 5 percent enrichment leaves
Tehran perpetually just two months away from enriching enough uranium to
assemble one nuclear weapon.
“Let us look at the current the facts on the ground. With
Iran’s inventory of 20 percent enriched uranium, it would take about two weeks
using 6000 IR-1 centrifuges, operating in tandem cascades, to produce enough
weapons grade material for one nuclear device. If Iran uses three to five
percent enriched uranium as feed material at all its currently installed 18,000
IR-1 centrifuges at Natanz and Fordow, the same result would be achieved in two
months.
“The current agreement retains Iran’s fleet of more than
18000 IR-1 centrifuges. Operational restrictions are placed that allow 10,000
centrifuges to continue to enrich at up to 5 percent at any given point of
time. These measures, together with a cessation of 20 percent enriched uranium
production and conversion of the 20 percent-level stockpiles to oxides, extend
the current breakout times to about two months.”
Meanwhile, in the session Sunday, Obama claimed the deal
only opens the Iranian economy to a maximum of $7 billion in sanctions relief.
Stated Obama: “What we’ve done is we’ve turned the spigot
slightly and we’ve said, here’s maximum $7 billion out of the over $100 billion
of revenue of theirs that is frozen as a consequence of our sanctions, to give
us the time and the space to test whether they can move in a direction, a
comprehensive, permanent agreement that would give us all assurances that
they’re not producing nuclear weapons.”
However, WND reported under the interim deal Tehran’s
economy could be flooded with untold billions in sanctions relief and other
gains, far more than the widely reported amount of $6 to $7 billion.
A careful reading of the agreement, posted on the EU’swebsite, finds numerous open-ended statements about sanctions relief.
If Iran keeps its side of the bargain, the deal allows an
increase in European Union “authorisation thresholds for transactions for
non-sanctioned trade to an agreed amount.” No amount for the thresholds are provided
in the text of the deal.
The agreement states the U.S. and EU will “enable the
repatriation of an agreed amount of revenue held abroad.” No specific amount is
delineated in the deal.
In one clause that could potentially free untold billions,
the deal establishes a “financial channel to facilitate humanitarian trade for
Iran’s domestic needs using Iranian oil revenues held abroad.” No cap is
provided for the amount of revenue that could be made available.
An open-ended footnote states the “humanitarian” trade
financial channel “would involve specified foreign banks and non-designated
Iranian banks to be defined when establishing the channel.”
More sanctions relief spelled out in the text of the deal includes
a Western agreement to:
Pause efforts to
further reduce Iran’s crude oil sales, enabling Iran’s current customers to
purchase their current average amounts of crude oil. For such oil sales, it
suspends the EU and U.S. sanctions on associated insurance and transportation
services.
Suspend U.S. and EU sanctions on Iran’s petrochemical
exports, as well as sanctions on associated services, gold and precious metals.
Suspend U.S.
sanctions on Iran’s auto industry, as well as sanctions on associated services.
License the supply
and installation in Iran of spare parts for safety of flight for Iranian civil
aviation and associated services.
License safety related
inspections and repairs in Iran as well as associated services.
Not impose new
nuclear-related U.N. Security Council sanctions.
Not impose new EU
nuclear-related sanctions.
In the case of the
U.S. administration, acting consistently with the respective roles of the
president and the Congress, refrain from imposing new nuclear-related
sanctions.
